Life — November 7, 1918 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This page features a WWI-era cartoon titled "On the Western Front" depicting soldiers in a trench scene. The accompanying text discusses industrial mobilization for war, referencing Mr. Baruch (likely Bernard Baruch, head of the War Industries Board) and debates over governmental control versus private profit in wartime production. The two smaller illustrations at bottom show a soldier departing for France ("Good-bye, My Hero") and his return after the war. These contrast the enthusiastic send-off with the soldier's reintegration home, likely satirizing changing attitudes toward returning veterans or the gap between wartime patriotism and peacetime treatment. The overall message critiques the tension between collective sacrifice ("we must work, we must give") and preserving private interests during wartime mobilization.